Street Rockers

Got around to doing a top end overhaul on a 440 I slapped together to send the car to paint 6 years ago.
906 Heads (heads that came with the engine were junk, so I threw on a set of heads I had from a 383 core I bought to build my 438
factory 4bbl DP IRON manifold
stock-ish cam (came with the longblock)
Engine is running great (but a bit sluggish) So I figured I'd bump the cam up and throw a set of 440 source heads to lighten the car up a bit.
OOTB Stealth Heads
Edlebrock Airgap DP Intake
Hughes Flat Tappet Hydraulic "Stage 1 Cam"
BB HYD FLAT TAPPET CAM 236/242 -108ºLSA
LOBE LIFT .364"/.375"

I thought for SURE I had put a spare set of Comp Ultra Pro Magnums that I had laying around the shop on the motor 6 years ago, so Imagine my surprise when I pop the cover and its stock stamped units. LAME.

Its a street motor and I REALLY liked the Comp units on my roller motor after wiping out a set of INDY's at MATS back in 2008. Are the COMPS still the go to for a reliable street driven car? I don't have a lot of down time for this engine, part of me was thinking of just leaving the cam and rockers for next time, but you know us on this forum....... we're all kinda greedy and stingy. If I gotta pull the trigger on the Comps I guess thats fine, but between those showing up and then ordering a set of pushrods....gonna be at least a week or two...LAME.

Any bright ideas?

Comps are good but super expensive. Best rocker arms for street are the old nodular iron ones. Isky made good ones and so did Crane. Can only find them used now. I have a set of RAS stainless rocker arms that I've been using for 30 years. I just keep moving them from engine to engine. These are the ultimate street rocker arm but they are super expensive and I'm not even sure if you can get them anymore.

I will add to what Andy said. I had an aluminum rocker arm failure a number of years ago and ended up buying a used set of Isky's that I sent to RAS, now Rocker Arms Unlimited, to have them bushed, restored, etc. I've run them for years without issue. I just recently bought another set of Isky's, just to have them. Once I receive them, I will be sending them to Rocker Arms Unlimited, to have them bushed, etc.

I was just on Rocker Arms Unlimited's site the other day and they still show their new rockers for sale, the ones that Andy mentioned. Might be worth giving them a call.

Rocker Arms Unlimited still produce them bought a set for my build

I received a quote from RAS about a year ago. Still available then. Around $1k. My crane nodular iron have been bushed by RAS. Excellent work and customer service. I have a second set waiting on funds.

Nice. I'll give them a buzz in the am and see what they've got.

I have had RAS and the present company bush and accurised three sets of ductile iron rocker arms, they did not get them done on time and at the price they quoted me originally.
They raise their prices all three times before shipping them to me and took 2 to 6 months longer than they quoted.SCREW THEM
I buy Harland Sharps now, way better parts, price and service

That's really unfortunate. I just had a set bushed by RAU in December, It was I think $240, and they turned them around in 10 days.

Maybe the new owner has gotten a lot better

The ductile rockers work really well - I had a friend with a set done by RAU (the full treatment - bushings, narrowing, their new chromed/grooved shafts, hold downs). They were done when promised and the price was over $500 for everything. They looked nice out of the box, the shimming as supplied didn't line up with the valve stems very well. The rocker bodies weren't narrowed consistently (could measure 0.020-0.030" differences between them), so every location requires a unique shim configuration. Anyways, my friend ended up buying a whole set of shims and resetting them all.

After some run time, there was some glitter coming out of the valve train, pulled the rockers off, and there were some sharp edges/burrs on various rockers that were digging into the shims. Took them all off, faced the rocker sides on sandpaper, cleaned them thoroughly, so far so good.

There really isn't another company that does this, so you have to take the good with the bad... If you get them done, plan on checking your spacing setup and check everything for sharp edges. It's disappointing, but then again, it seems to be the norm with everything in this hobby these days.

Dan, just came across this on FBBO[ forbbodiesonly.com].
https://www.forbbodiesonly.com/mopa...-setup-not-mine-for-b-rb-450-new.237394/

Good looking out, just a day too late. Got scared and dropped the money for a set of Comps again.

who makes, or used to make, the stainless bushed, roller tip rockers ?
a big TIA as always !

PRW had a set lifetime replacement worked great never a issue with them

thank you.

Harland Sharp will also make bushed rockers out of their "normal" pieces - had a set on an RB.

Its a shame the Isky and Crane iron rocker arms are no longer made. Mancini sells iron adjustable rockers for the LA engine at a reasonable price.

Seller is Joe Balboa that used to be out of NY selling used parts. I think he uses both addresses now. His business used to be called quickfish or something.

Known for selling parts with issues. No one local to him bought from him. He’s used various names and business names over the years.

Normally, if your lucky, you get what you pay for
Buy the good parts if you don't want problems soon

I scored a set of 69-70 vintage Isky's with the wide pad and sent them to RAS about 10 years ago. Got them back with shafts, shims, and hold downs for just under $600 in about a week. They still look like new and are performing as expected. Might be going to a small street roller soon and I have no doubt they will be fine with that deal too.

Gus

Yeah I've used the Isky rocker arms with a small street roller cam. They should work fine up to about 0.600 lift.

I have a new small block going together
286 extreme street roller .575 lift and W2 iron rockers

Mike